IDK #358 makes me smile… Why not use the text lingo for “I don’t know” instead of the boring “untitled” when I don’t know what to call something? Or, even what it is. An alien ghost queen with her little prince? This started with a watercolor under painting on heavy, slightly textured paper. I like to tint textured papers as it throws color down in the nooks and crannies so there are no tiny little white dots when pencil points glide on top. Then, when I start to color with the pencils, I just play with what’s there.

Actual size is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. The image is a photograph, so if you click on it to zoom it up, it will be much larger than actual size.

Like this:

M is for MENTAL
which makes me laugh to say
as I can’t count the times
it was worded the other way.

~

I have M’s in the lines on the palms of both hands. So does my sister. One of the things we have told each other now and then over the years, usually with a laugh is, “Those M’s don’t stand for Mental.”

~

Today’s art is a 5 x 7 inch drawing photographed on my wood table before framing because my scanner is still acting up.

So, what is the art about? Why is it M for Mental?

I live in Insanity International Towers. It is a high rise apartment building for elderly and disabled people located right smack downtown in Youngstown, Ohio. I have heard it called “Insanity Towers” on the street. Most people just call it “The Towers” and some people call it “International” and I think we are supposed to call this building “IT” because management distributes a monthly “IT Newsletter” but no one does. It is not a bad place to live. It is a secure building with friendly staff, activities for residents, and they keep it well maintained inside and out. What more could you ask for?

I started this drawing at a meeting of the building’s “Mindfulness” group. We were drawing for the activity that day. It just so happened to be on a day that I had woke up from a dream about planting this “tree” that was really a dead log with one little vine branch growing out of the top. My grandson (older than he is now) came over to help me pull it out of the storage closet, haul it down, and plant it. Yes, it was wrapped, boxed, and stuck in a closet. I had hauled it from place to place, taking it with me every time I had moved.

Then the dream flipped and we were outside. My grandson sat the tree in the corner of a flower bed, near the intersection of two walls.

“Looks good here,” he said.

“Oh no, that won’t do,” I said. “The roots will grow into the water lines.”

“But grandma,” he said, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. “It’s dead. It’s not going to grow roots.”

I woke up thinking about the “dead weight” that I’ve been carrying around all these years. Maybe it is time to chip away the old wood, free the roots, and plant the vine. That requires mental work, so that is why this drawing is the M for Mental.

I finished and framed “Dead Weight” yesterday, then gave it to one of the social workers in this building. She wants to start a resident art wall in the community room to encourage other people to make art. They may be surprised at the number of artists who live in this building.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for viewing my art today. Now I need to get caught up on my reading as there are quite a few interesting blogs participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

L is for LONGING
creeping into the night
when the one the heart loves
remains out of sight.

~

“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you, Peter Pan. That’s where I’ll be waiting.” ~ Tink

~

I wake alone. Armed with two pencils, I walk across the street to get a cup of coffee and find a bench as a place to start today’s drawing. The air smells like rain coming, the warmth deceptive. Tomorrow, after the storm rolls through, will be cold. Birds, traffic, conversations and flags whipping on the breeze, typical city noises. The gray skies, cold pressed paper (not my fave, hot pressed is smoother), Van Dyck Brown or Cinnamon?

Zimtbraun, which may be German for Cinnamon as Faber-Castell pencils are made in Germany, touches the paper first, lightly dusting, laying down color, creating an under-drawing. I have no idea what it will become. My former future faux whatever son-in-law (who knows what they are doing?) arrives with ice cream. Low fat, reduced calorie Moose Tracks? I’m not dieting, sure hope they didn’t skimp on the fudge swirl.

Back inside, up the elevator, where a hundred colors and faded photographs await. L comes to me.

J is for JEWELRY,
a joyful beading delight.
Who can recognize the stones
in a photo black and white?

Hint: the beads are not all natural stones, some are glass and there are crystals and copper, clay and shells in there. It is not a serious inquiry. The photo is in black and white because I like the way it looks.

Besides, I am not trying to sell my hand beaded creations online. It’s more like “coming soon to a street corner near you” but only if you live in Youngstown and I decide to become an itinerant retailer.

H is for HOUSING
A place to call home,
Art helping women
Avoid homelessness.

Today’s quick sketch illustrates something most of us take for granted, the need for a safe place to call home. I live in Youngstown (Link goes to wiki.) It is a “rust belt” city in northeast Ohio. You may have heard about Youngstown on the news as President Obama has mentioned Youngstown in speeches and Youngstown has been featured in various articles praising the efforts to recover from economic hardship and population decline as people moved elsewhere to find work. By the 2010 census, 32.7% of Youngstown residents live in poverty (source). When people are barely hanging on, it is easy to fall through the cracks.

Our local YWCA helps women, often with small children, who are at risk of homelessness. (For more information on the housing programs, click here – link goes to the Housing page at the Youngstown YWCA website.)

Our YWCA also has an annual juried art show celebrating woman artists. It is a nice show with a professional presentation and an upscale preview party for patrons (opening night) and this event is a major fundraiser for our YWCA. This year, they are doing something new to raise additional money for the housing programs – asking women artists to donate small 5×7 inch works of art for a silent auction at the preview party. Women artists from ANYWHERE can contribute. The call for entry flyer is below. I scanned it as a photo so you can click on it to see it big enough to read it and feel free to share!

Call for entries flyer, click to see full size

Yes, I asked permission to post the flyer on social media and blog about it… (I’m on the art committee, but this is my first year. Hopefully, they will ask me to volunteer again!) I’m sharing this because I think it would be AMAZING if donated art arrived from all over the globe.

Satisfaction is the “feel good” of knowing that your little piece of art was sold to help at risk women avoid homelessness. You also get the satisfaction of having your donated work displayed, admired, and appreciated in Youngstown, Ohio (which by the way, is also home to the world famous Butler Museum of American Art) and the satisfaction of knowing whoever buys your donated piece will probably be an art patron who will cherish it forever. Satisfaction is a good thing.

Thank you for viewing my art today! Please share, if you know anyone who may be interested in donating art to this worthy cause.

All art on this blog is “supposed” to be the same size as a baseball card, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, but the art made last night to post for the letter G today does not feel right. I never could make up my mind what the G stood for, so the art itself is missing something. All day, I have been racking my brain asking myself, “What’s G?”

The answer keeps rolling back the same:

G is for GUITARS.

See? This is what happens when guitar’s die. They donate their organs (tuners and such) to cigar box guitar builders and the body can be used to make art.

I was going to post this on my other blog (and I will, with more details) but this is my guitar art that I recently entered into a local juried show.